Collaborative Research: Genetic and Physiological Mechanisms of Local Climatic Adaptation in a Widespread Perennial Plant Species

合作研究：广泛分布的多年生植物物种适应当地气候的遗传和生理机制

• 批准号: 1557770
• 负责人: Kenneth Olsen
• 金额: $ 70.92万
• 依托单位: Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-02-15 至 2020-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1557770&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Genetic; Physiological; Mechanisms

Some plant species are able to thrive across a wide range of climates, and the mechanisms by which this occurs are poorly understood. Characterizing the genetic and physiological basis of local climatic adaptation is especially critical for assessing whether and how plant species, including crops, can persist through periods of environmental change. Using the widely-adapted species white clover, this project examines the factors that allow this plant to thrive in climates as dramatically different as northern Minnesota and central Florida. The production of cyanide-containing compounds appears to play a role in this process, particularly for adaptation to heat and drought. These compounds are also found in several important crop species, and their importance for drought adaptation will be examined in detail for the first time. Other aspects of natural genetic and physiological variation in climate tolerance will be assessed through field experiments. The project will provide classroom materials and curricular activities for an ongoing and highly successful inquiry-based educational outreach program developed by the principle investigator, which has already engaged more than 8000 students and 100 teachers nationwide. Students sample and analyze their local clover populations and contribute data to an online database, where they can compare observations with classes from other climates. Scientific training will be provided to undergraduates, including those from minority backgrounds, as well as two graduate students and two postdoctoral associates.Adaptation to local environments plays a key role in the ability of plant species to survive and persist through environmental change, yet the genetic and physiological mechanisms that underlie this process are largely unknown. Through work that integrates QTL mapping of fitness traits, candidate gene analyses of two well-characterized biochemical polymorphisms, and physiological assessments of their fitness impacts, the following questions are addressed, using white clover (Trifolium repens) as a study system: 1) What is the genetic architecture of local climatic adaptation? Specifically, to what extent does it arise through fitness tradeoffs for alternate alleles of individual genes (antagonistic pleiotropy), or through combinations of loci where individual genes provide a fitness benefit in one environment and are selectively neutral in others (conditional neutrality)? 2) What are the physiological mechanisms by which cyanogenic glycosides function in abiotic stress adaptation? 3) What is the role of gene copy number variation (CNVs) in local adaptation? This work will rigorously test the function of cyanogenic glycosides, which are found in 3,000 plant species including many crops, in abiotic stress adaptation. CNVs are abundant in the genomes of many taxa, and the project will directly assess their role in local climatic adaptation, which has not previously been done. The project will also engage high school students and teachers nationwide in hands-on, inquiry-based learning through an ongoing and highly successful outreach program based on clover cyanogenesis, and it will provide training for undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral associates.

一些植物物种能够在广泛的气候上繁衍生息，而发生这种情况的机制知之甚少。 表征局部气候适应的遗传和生理基础，对于评估植物物种（包括农作物）是否可以持续到环境变化时期，尤其重要。 该项目使用了广泛适应的白色三叶草，研究了该植物在气候下繁衍生息的因素，与明尼苏达州北部和佛罗里达州中部一样巨大。 含氰化物的化合物的产生似乎在此过程中起作用，尤其是适应热量和干旱。 这些化合物也可以在几种重要的农作物物种中找到，并且首次将详细研究它们对干旱适应的重要性。 气候耐受性自然遗传和生理变化的其他方面将通过现场实验评估。 该项目将提供课堂材料和课程活动，为原则研究者开发的持续且基于询问的基于询问的教育外展计划，该计划已经与全国有8000多名学生和100名教师参与。学生对当地三叶草人群进行采样并分析其在线数据库中贡献数据，在那里他们可以将观察结果与其他气候的课程进行比较。 将向大学生提供科学培训，包括少数族裔背景的人，两名研究生和两名博士后同事。对当地环境的适应在植物物种通过环境变化的生存和持续存在的能力中起着关键作用，但是遗传和生理机制却是这一过程的基础，这是未知的。通过整合健身特征QTL映射的工作，两个特征良好的生化多态性的候选基因分析以及其适应性影响的生理评估，以下问题是通过白色三叶草（Trifolium Repens（Trifolium Repens）作为研究系统来解决的：1）当地的遗传体系适应的遗传学遗传学是什么？ 具体而言，它在多大程度上通过对单个基因的替代等位基因（拮抗性多效性）的替代等位基因或基因座的组合在多大程度上产生。 2）氰化糖苷在非生物胁迫适应中起作用的生理机制是什么？ 3）基因拷贝数（CNV）在局部适应中的作用是什么？ 这项工作将严格测试氰化糖苷的功能，在包括许多农作物在内的3,000种植物中，它们都在非生物胁迫适应中发现。 CNV在许多类群的基因组中都很丰富，该项目将直接评估其在局部气候适应中的作用，而以前尚未完成。该项目还将通过基于询问的基于询问的学习，通过持续而成功的外展计划以三叶草的氰基生成为基础，并为基于询问的学习与高中生和老师与，并将为本科生，研究生和博士后同事提供培训。